1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an apparatus for winding up croissant dough pieces. It particularly relates to an apparatus that can wind up a triangular dough piece to produce a long and slender croissant dough roll of a shape that resembles that of a hand-rolled croissant dough roll.
2. Prior Art
A croissant roll, both ends of which are bent inward, is preferred by consumers. To prepare this C-shaped croissant roll various methods have been provided. For instance, a triangular dough piece is manually wound up so as to shape a slender and wound dough piece, both ends are manually or automatically bent inward, and it is baked to make the croissant roll. Also, a triangular dough piece is wound up by means of a winding-up apparatus to make a croissant dough roll, and both ends are manually or automaticaly bent inward to make a croissant dough roll. It is then baked to make the croissant roll.
Also, various kinds of apparatuses for winding up croissant dough pieces have previously been provided. For instance, International Patent Publication No. WO 86/02808 discloses a pastry-rolling machine.
In FIG. 1 of the above Patent Publication each of a pair of rigid laths (21,21) is mounted on one end of each of a pair of brackets (22, 22). The other end of each of the brackets (22, 22) is hinged about a transverse horizontal axis (23) disposed above a conveyor (1). The pair of laths (21,21) can swing vertically about the axis (23). Therefore, the pair of laths (21,21) can rise in response to the increasing height of a croissant dough roll (2') that is being wound up, during a winding-up operation. When the croissant dough roll (2') is formed, the pair of laths (21,21) apply a stretching force due to their own weight and the weights of the brackets (22,22) to stretch and lengthen the croissant dough roll (2').
However, the space between the laths (21,21) is fixed. Therefore, they prevent both ends of the croissant dough roll (2') from being lengthened. Thus, as shown in FIG. 2 of the prior art, the length of the croissant dough roll (2') is almost the same as the length of the base of a triangular croissant dough piece (2). Also, the dough roll (2') has a fat shape, and its length is relatively short, like a croissant dough roll 17 of FIG. 7 attached to this specification. Therefore to meet consumer requirements, a further manual stretching and lengthening of this dough roll has been necessitated. In any event, it has been difficult to produce long and slender croissant dough rolls.